


It Takes a Village to Raise a Stark

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: If I stay [50]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Baby fluff is best fluff, Carol is a bodyguard now, Morgan is born!, Multi, Nebula takes her role of aunt very seriously, Tony is terrified
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 19:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Carol was just as surprised as everyone when it was suddenly announced that Tony had a kid. But then again they hadn't kept in touch much. However, Nebula is determined to find a gift for baby Stark and Carol has no choice but to serve as her bodyguard/driver/money bag.





	It Takes a Village to Raise a Stark

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! After yesterday's angst, I thought today needed some fluff, and what's more fluffy than a baby? Plus the opportunity to show Nebula navigating life on Earth some more.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Carol hadn't heard any news from Tony for a long time. In fact, Nebula seemed to have been the only one regularly visiting Tony and Pepper, for some reason. So when she'd turned on the TV one day and found out that 'CEO of Stark Industries and Billionaire Tony Stark announce the birth of their daughter', she was more than shocked. In fact, she almost dropped her toast back in her plate. She looked over at everyone else who had been in the living room with her.

  
"Anyone knew about this?" she asked.

  
Steve shook his head. Natasha continued to stare at the screen with her mouth slightly open. Rhodey looked guiltily back at her.

  
"He made me promise not to say anything," he replied.

  
Carol looked back at him with a frown.

  
"Seriously? Why?"

  
Rhodey shrugged.

  
"I didn't ask. I'm going to the hospital this afternoon, actually."

  
"Oh, well, you'll give them my best, I suppose."

  
Rhodey nodded. Carol returned to her breakfast, her eyes back on the TV. Apparently, the kid was healthy, and it was a girl, and that was all the couple had given to the press. Carol shrugged at that, assuming it would also be the only thing they would learn. However, while she was finishing her coffee, Nebula went into the living room and said:

  
"Tony's daughter has been born. Pepper told me it was customary to bring gifts for the child or the mother. Carol, I will require help in picking a gift. Then, we can bring it to the hospital."

  
Carol forced the coffee down her throat before she replied:

  
"Hm... Yeah, I can help you pick something but... I don't think Tony will be very happy to see me at the hospital."

  
"I am bringing you as my bodyguard. If Tony can bring his bodyguard everywhere, so can I."

  
Carol sighed, finally smiling.

  
"I can't see a flaw in that logic. Fine. I'll go get dressed, we'll leave right after."

  
"Great."

* * *

  
  
Picking a gift for baby Stark would have been easy if Carol hadn't had to also babysit Nebula the entire time. She had brought them to a store specializing in baby things on their way to the hospital. As soon as Nebula entered, she said:

  
"Where are the daggers?"

  
Carol's blood had frozen over.

  
"The what now?"

  
"The daggers. Tony's daughter will need to learn how to defend herself. The sooner the better. A dagger will be a weapon of choice for a young child. We might want to wait until she's at least eight for a sword."

  
"Okay... So, on Earth weapons are not a really good gift for newborn children..."

  
Carol placed a hand on Nebula's back and lead her toward the three aisles full of plushes.

  
"How about a plush? When Monica was born I bought her tons of plushes. I may have gone overboard, actually. But that's beside the point. The point is, kids love soft things. Just find her a nice, soft plush, okay?"

  
Nebula nodded and started wandering the aisle. If anyone looked at her strangely because of her skin color, a glare from Carol would set them scrambling away quickly. Nebula disappeared in the next aisle while Carol was looking at soft, small teddy bears that would be perfect.

  
"I have found the perfect plush," she heard Nebula call from the beside her.

  
"Awesome, what is..."

  
The words died on her tongue as she found Nebula placing a massive rabbit beside her. It was at least three feet tall, with a fluffy pastel fur and a heart-shaped nose.

  
"Okay... You got the idea. Just... Remember that a human baby at birth is about 18 inches? We don't want her to die if the rabbit falls on top of her."

  
"So this would be a nice companion for her later, but not right now?" Nebula asked with slight confusion.

  
"Exactly."

  
"Perhaps it will be better to take this one, then. I don't want her growing so much that she won't be able to hold it anymore."

  
Carol tried to find a way to explain that a plush was not something most kids outgrew, not in the size sense of the word but in an emotional sort of way. Eventually, she saw Nebula's hopeful eyes, and she gave up.

  
"Sure, we could do that."

  
"Excellent."

  
She picked up the plush with ease and went to one of the cash registers. Carol looked back at the little teddy bears. She picked up one and followed Nebula to the counter.

* * *

  
  
They made their way to the hospital without much trouble, the big plush strapped to the back of the car and Carol's little teddy bear on the dashboard. Nebula got the big rabbit out of the car on her own and together they moved past the rows of journalists kept at bay. They did snap quite a few pictures, but thanks to the massive rabbit they were able to hide from the flashes of the paparazzi.

  
The woman at the front desk looked up from her computer when she heard them come in. Her eyes fell on Nebula anxiously. Carol called her attention by clearing her throat loudly.

  
"Hi, we're here to see Tony Stark?"

  
"Hm... Let me just..."

  
The woman turned to her phone. She glanced again worriedly at Nebula who patiently waited, her expression completely blank. She was starting to get used to strange stares, even if they weren't enjoyable in the slightest.

  
"Hello, Mr. Hogan? Yes, there are two women down for Mister Stark?"

  
The nurse nodded and looked over at them:

  
"Can I get your names, please?" she asked, placing her hand on the phone's speaker as if it was going to help separate the two conversations.

  
"Carol Danvers," Carol replied with her most polite smile.

  
"Nebula," Nebula said coldly.

  
The woman looked back at her and nodded, then turned back to the phone.

  
"Carol Danvers and... Nebula?"

  
Finally, she nodded with surprise.

  
"Of course sir, thank you."

  
She hung up.

  
"You two can go in. It's the Tenth floor."

  
"Thank you," Carol said.

  
Nebula didn't even bother and simply walked past the front desk and to the elevator. They stepped into the elevator together and Carol pressed the right button since Nebula's hands were a bit full.

* * *

  
  
The elevator led them to the top of the hospital, with little to no doors in the hallway. Upon entering, a sign indicated that this floor of the hospital had been renovated thanks to the donation of the Stark Foundation. Well, that certainly explained why the rooms on this floor could fit four usual hospital rooms. They were spacious, well decorated, with windows and probably large bathrooms. Carol even bet there was a bathtub in them.

  
They found Happy keeping watch outside the door. The windows in the room that gave onto the hallway could be tainted or left clear. One was still see through, and Carol saw Pepper in a hospital bed, reading through a book, a little crib placed not far from her. Happy turned toward them as they approached.

  
"Hey, Captain Danvers. I didn't expect to see you."

  
Carol shrugged.

  
"Nebula needed a bodyguard. And a driver. And someone to pay her gift too."

  
Happy turned to Nebula and the big rabbit. He sighed.

  
"Well, the boss just went to make a phone call, he'll be right back. Just head on through, Pepper will probably happy to have some company."

  
He knocked lightly on the door and slid his head inside. Pepper looked up from her book.

  
"Mrs. Stark, I got visitors for you."

  
Pepper looked through the window and saw Carol and the big rabbit, being held by blue hands.

  
"Let them in," she whispered with a smile.

  
Happy stepped away and Carol held the door while Nebula passed the plush through the door.

  
"Sorry to drop by unannounced," Carol whispered back. "Nebula was very excited."

  
Nebula didn't seem to hear Carol's comment. Instead, she placed the plush beside her and whispered:

  
"Why is everyone whispering?"

  
"We don't want to bother the baby," Carol explained.

  
"Oh, of course."

  
Nebula picked up the rabbit again and brought it closer to Pepper's bed. Pepper looked at it with a small smile.

  
"You said it was customary to bring gifts to newborn children. I thought this rabbit would be a good companion for her, once she is older. That way she will be able to play with it longer."

  
"It's a good idea, Nebula. Thank you."

  
Nebula nodded in approval, then turned to Carol.

  
"Alright, we can go now."

  
Both Carol and Pepper frowned.

  
"Why?"

  
"Well, I have delivered my gift. Unless there was more that I was supposed to do?"

  
Carol tried to hold in her laughter by biting her lip. Pepper chuckled lightly.

  
"Usually you don't just come to give a gift to the baby," she explained. "You come to see the baby."

  
"Oh."

  
Nebula moved over to the plastic crib and looked down. A little human was sleeping inside, in red onesies. She had a tiny nose, and tiny hands, and tiny ears. Everything about her was tiny, except her eyes that were big and dark. Her head was covered by a tuft of brown hair.

  
"She looks like Tony," Nebula decided. "She is small like him."

  
Neither Carol nor Pepper could hold back their laughter.

  
"Don't let him catch you say that," Pepper said between peals of laughter.

  
Nebula continued to look down at the baby.

  
"Are humans babies always so small?"

  
"Usually," Carol confirmed as she also moved closer to look at the baby. "I think Monica was a bit bigger? But not by much."

  
Carol read the sign on the crib.

  
"Morgan?"

  
She looked over at Pepper.

  
"Tony said he had a dream where we had a kid and she was named Morgan, so..."

  
"Make the dream come true," Carol agreed.

  
Nebula suddenly took a step back as if something had scared her. Carol had never seen Nebula so frightened before. She looked back at the crib. Morgan was awake and babbling lightly.

  
"Are you okay?"

  
Nebula nodded.

  
"She tried to grab my finger. I didn't want to hurt her, so I stepped back."

  
Carol smiled reassuringly at Nebula.

  
"You're not going to hurt her. Just..."

  
She held out a finger and Morgan grabbed onto it quickly. She squeezed Carol's finger in her tiny fist with all of her strength and pulled Carol's hand closer.

  
"Let her grab your finger."

  
Still, Nebula remained hesitant. Carol cooed.

  
"Oh, babies are so cute... See, I would have thought I would have been a grand-mother by 2021, but no..."

  
Carol sighed longly. Finally, she managed to extract her finger out of Morgan's grasp and looked over at Nebula.

  
"Go on, try. Just let her do her thing."

  
Nebula hesitated a few seconds longer, and finally, she let her blue hand, the one covered in synthetic flesh, move closer to the crib. Eagerly, Morgan grabbed one of her fingers and clung to it. Nebula's eyes shone with pure wonder. She looked down at Morgan, who laughed. For a second, Carol thought Nebula was going to cry of happiness before she remembered she couldn't cry.

  
"Babies are cute," Nebula mumbled bashfully.

* * *

  
Carol was keeping watch outside the room while Happy had gone to fetch something to drink for Pepper. Who better to guard a hospital room then Captain Marvel herself?

  
"Is Happy running errands again?"

  
She turned around and saw Tony walked toward the door.

  
"I could really use a smoothie."

  
Carol smirked.

  
"Congratulations."

  
"Thank you. I take twelve percent of the credit. Maybe fifteen?"

  
Carol chuckled. Tony came to stand beside her, looking through the window inside the room. Pepper was holding tiny Morgan and Nebula was looking on as Morgan continued to babble.

  
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked.

  
Tony sighed.

  
"Terrified, actually. My relationship with my dad was... well, something and I have a bad circle of abuse to break."

  
Carol nodded encouragingly. She looked through the window as well. Pepper was trying to convince Nebula to take Morgan in her arms.

  
"You're a father, right?" Tony asked.

  
When Carol looked at him weirdly he tried to explain:

  
"In that sense that you have a daughter you didn't carry for nine months. How did you... How was it, the first time you had to act like a parent?"

  
"Terrifying," Carol replied honestly. "I was a closeted lesbian in the air force academy in the 80s, with a crush on my best friend who'd just told me that she was pregnant from some random dude she'd slept with, and she might have to skip the next semester because of it."

  
"Well, when you put it that way..."

  
"She was eight months pregnant when we first kissed. It was a take it or leave it situation, you know? Two for one. I wouldn't have said no for all the money in your bank account."

  
"That's a lot of money," Tony agreed.

  
"So I just rolled with it. I learned on the fly. I'd say I didn't do such a bad job."

  
"Yeah, I saw the news. Captain Marvel and Photon?"

  
Carol shrugged.

  
"I'm just glad she's okay. The superhero instincts are not all mine, but it's not like there's anything I can do about it anymore. She's almost forty..."

  
Carol sighed longly. Well, that made her feel older than necessary.

  
"So you don't have any tips for me?" Tony asked with a smile, "From one dad to another, of course?"

  
Carol rolled her eyes.

  
"Enjoy every moment. Even if it's a tea party with her plushes, even if it's a temper tantrum over the wrong flavor of Popsicle. Cause one day, you're going to wake up and she's going to be twenty-five and about to get her second Ph.D. and you'll realize just how much you miss that little bundle in there."

  
"Well, that was depressing, Captain Danvers. Thank you for your time. Now I'm going to rescue my daughter from an alien abduction."

  
Carol rolled her eyes. Tony opened the door to the bedroom, and Carol called him back:

  
"Hey, Tony?"

  
He looked back at her. Carol took something out of her pocket and threw it at him. It was the teddy bear she'd bought at the store earlier, dressed as Iron Man.

  
"For your daughter. Hope she likes it."

  
Tony smiled back.

  
"Of course. I'm her favorite superhero."

  
Tony went inside, taking Morgan out of Nebula's arms and saving Nebula from a squirming, fussy baby. Carol looked through the window with a smile. Tony didn't even need her advice. He had figured it out already.


End file.
